[David in VA]

Steve, earlier this year I traded my '08 GC with the hemi for a '11 X5d. The X5 is really nice, tows great (open trailer with track car), much more comfortable, and slightly bigger inside. I use it as a daily, tow to the track around once a month and do several long road trips a year.Having said that the GC was great except for the issues that kept popping up. Added to an absolutely terrible service dept. I sold it as soon as the warranty was close to running out. In my opinion:

WK
- Initial cost was MUCH lower than anything comparable. Lots of bells and whistles.
- Fun to drive, especially with the Hemi.
- Smallest SUV that could tow my trailer and car
- Terrible MPG
- Terrible build quality, although I hear the current generation is much better

X5
- Great looking in my opinion
- Ok to drive, diesel takes some getting used to
- Tows very well, better than the Jeep
- Very comfortable on long road trips
- Surprisingly low MPG for a diesel, I get around 22 on average

I didn't worry too much about dinging them up, bought Weathertech mats for both and they held up well. I would definitely not want to own either of them out of warranty. If you have a good Jeep service department close and MPG aren't too high on your list a WK2 might fit the bill.

Hope that helps.
David